WHAT’S THE GREEN SHIT? IT LOOKS LIKE PLAY-DOH...
A Tête-à-tête with James Williamson and Díre McCain
Photos © Richard A. Meade
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What ensued after “THE INTERVIEW” – the final segment of a three-hour conversation, a chinwag over the third course. The sound quality is a bit rough, but if you’re game, then climb aboard, kiddies...
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MUSIC FILES FROM PARAPHILIA V
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INTERVIEWS WITH THE EDITORS
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The Heart-ache and the Thousand Natural Shocks
By The Man With No Name
‘Let nothing be called natural
In an age of bloody confusion
Ordered, disordered, planned caprice,
And dehumanized humanity,
lest all things
Be held unalterable’
~ Bertolt Brecht
An emaciated angel gazes out at a rapidly imploding universe. As a she-fawn breaks free from the gravitational pull of a planet soaked in menstrual blood.
The tenth floor of a deserted tower block reveals an unforgettable invitation from a spectral girl in black. While a young woman cradles a handgun and dreams of sex, death and deliverance.
It is both appropriate and necessary that in 2009, Paraphilia Magazine has finally swam free from the entanglements and pixilated shadows of the worldwide web’s ever-increasing tsunami of cyber flotsam. Emerging hammering and howling from a pitch black womb into a www dot free-for-all. Paraphilia, its editors, creators and contributors have over the course of the online journal’s first three issues come to some stark but inevitable conclusions. Today, more than ever, the struggle to unleash the imagination, to create words and images which defy the conventional and short circuit the patterns and prejudices of our expectations has become increasingly vital. The compelling and often bizarre nature of Paraphilia’s textual and graphical dreams can in turn seduce, repulse, obsess; questioning and confronting the order of banality.
‘Longevity and libido grace of a serpents fire…She slithered into the corner and found a dark shadow that offered comfort. It was littered with the shed skins of other snakes. “Oh well,” she thought, “at least I’m not alone”’...Lycanthropic Suite by Claudia Bellocq (Paraphilia II)
Undeniably, each page in turn reveals a world, an enclave in which every text and visual tangent may additionally be a metaphor or a mystery, a key, a symbol or simply a playful and perverse diversion, a cosmos whose elemental syntax embraces Surrealist obsession, barbed humour, premonitory pornography, the sexual avant garde and more. Welcoming all who find common agreement that the enemy of creative expression is not censorship but the limits of barely explored consciousness. Paraphilia’s international collective of writers, artists, theorists and creative anarchists unite behind the magazine’s ongoing mission statement to, ‘carve new channels for the mind and emotions, and shamelessly plunder the past...Disrespecting all barriers, boundaries and genre-manoeuvres of the cultural and marketing industries’...
Los Angeles-based Editor Díre McCain expands further upon this philosophy, ‘Besides feeling painfully dissatisfied with the current overabundance of bland, artificial rubbish – including some that claims to be genuine and stimulating, when in fact, it’s merely the same dreck in disguise – I needed a creative outlet that went beyond my own personal endeavors. The idea had been swimming around in my head(s) for quite some time, but it wasn’t until Dave and I simultaneously broached the subject amid a conversation one day that it began to materialize.’
Co-Editor Dave Mitchell remains at heart a storyteller and conceptualist. A creative catalyst who defiantly sees things differently. Defined by a fundamental altered state indispensable to the blurring of definitions, for extending the boundaries of plausibility. ‘Of course you draw from your own experiences when you write or paint, but to be honest, your life is so complex and overlaps with so many other factors that it’s silly to try to reduce it to a simple set of factors. For instance, if I were to try to write my own autobiography, making a list of ‘events’ and defining certain ones as ‘key’ would be to ignore the importance of the inner life, thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams – plus the fact that all the things I’ve read or watched or listened to are just as important to me as (for example) where I worked between 1978 and 1998.’ Dave is equally pragmatic about the nature of the creative process mentioning that, ‘a piece of music I love feels just as much a part of me as my eye colouring or height. You assimilate all these things.
Paraphilia is a very organic, sprawling, messy exuberance with a life of its own, and that life spills over into the lives of everyone involved. I think what we are possibly creating, is what used to be called a ‘scene’. One that is located internationally in terms of geography, and is also everywhere through the power of the internet. Where people can see their material presented in terms other than as a commodity.’
One of the most striking elements of the magazine is the sheer diversity and correlation of both the written and visual content. Former Factory Superstar Holly Woodlawn discusses the highs and low-end of fame while in the same issue Angélique Bosio’s photographs depict the eerie desolation of out of season funfairs. Writhing through the contents like a smooth serpentine snake, being pulled in unfamiliar directions, both enclosing and repelling all around. It is the schizophrenic nature of the work of the assembled contributors’ visions that highlight the multi-faceted nature of the project. Dave again, ‘There are all the people who are working with us in Paraphilia. Some of them are better known than others, of course. But in terms of relevance within the magazine we don’t see any contributor as being more or less artistically valid than any other. Reputation and fame don’t really count much to us, other than the fact it might help draw attention to the less well-known contributors.’
Dave elaborates further, ‘Our unruly clan continues to grow as we pick up steam, but there are some members who have been with us from the get-go, long before the first issue saw the light of day, including Jim Lopez, Tom Garretson, Kate MacDonald, Craig Woods, Steven Severin, Christopher Nosnibor, and Pablo Vision, to name a few.’ Díre: ‘The first three issues are actually a trilogy – with some serialized pieces – that’s best consumed together, and in order, but each has a somewhat different theme that will appeal to different people, I suppose. What counts for us is the work itself.’
The freedoms and challenges thrown up by self-producing and compiling such an expansive project (each issue covers an average of around 200 pages) is a more than welcome opportunity to Díre: ‘Above all, there is no fixed or established criteria in terms of content, and the word “genre” is not in our vocabulary. The vast majority of our readers and contributors already know this, but there are still lingering misconceptions about PARAPHILIA that seem to be based solely upon its “unconventional” appearance. The fact of the matter is, we absolutely despise rules, regulations, guidelines, etc – particularly when it comes to creativity – and strongly feel that in order to produce anything worthwhile, all shackles must be removed. This is the primary reason we don’t edit the material we receive either, aside from the necessary formatting, and correction of obvious typos, that is.’
Indeed the flux-like nature of the internet has in Dave’s perception provided ‘a boon for culture, promotion, and dissemination. You could think of the internet as a vast central nervous system. Maybe our function on the planet was to bring this vast cybernetic brain into being. It’s one of the most valuable tools an artist has nowadays, and we intend to exploit it to the fullest extent.’
‘My demons are always ever present in me……..cajoling me into the ‘dare’…….seeking the purest animal drive with a hint of mild intelligence! I am in dangerous territory, and I have not an ounce of fear or trepidation in me. I feel invincible. I feel impermeable. I feel impenetrable. I feel youth renewed’....Transgressive by Sue Fox (Paraphilia I)
So perhaps Paraphilia could also be viewed by some as both a symptom and cure for much of the reflected and refracted by the online cyber-universe’s darkest scanner? During his lifetime William Burroughs expressed a similar conviction that a societal mutation is the only way out of the present mess. Right now, what positive signs, factors, or forces remain visible while working toward such a mutation? Díre: Well, at the moment, civilization seems to be in the midst of a major, global mutation, but not on a creative level. That said, the response to PARAPHILIA so far – from both the readers and contributors – has proven that there are indeed loads of people out there who aren’t afraid of being stimulated, challenged, and compelled to feel, even if those feelings are deemed undesirable by “normal” society. This not only soothes our souls no end, but has also motivated us to persevere at all costs.’
Dave: ‘Burroughs wasn’t very precise about how he used that term – ‘mutation’. He really didn’t use it in a very scientific way. Humans are limited by their human natures. So far, all attempts by people to ‘become more than human’ by going against their natures, has resulted in nothing more than damaged humans. If a mutation occurs, in scientific terms it wouldn’t be an ‘evolved human’, it would be something new, a new species, and not necessarily benign to humanity. There is also the possibility that mutation is just as likely to occur among other species as it is among humans. The next ‘dominant species’ could evolve from rodents, reptiles, bugs, even bacteria. In terms of gladial taxonomy we could very well be a dead end rather than the pinnacle of creation. It’s happened before with other species.’
The editors at Paraphilia continue to welcome contributions and correspondence from ‘anyone who dares to be true to his/herself, regardless of any criticism s/he may receive – which describes every one of our contributors to date.’ With the project just at its genesis, future plans include, ‘Books, definitely. We want to increase the functionality of our site so we can add videos, interactive features and a merchandising page. That last one is just to try to claw back a little money to help pay for the site and other administrative expenses. And we’ve also just been talking about doing something with music. I’m sure there are other ideas developing that we don’t even know about yet.’
Paraphilia boldly reoccupies the territory previously mapped by oft-quoted and established esoteric periodicals. Having long abandoned a once radical editorial vision in a retreat to self indulgence and conventional obsessions. The emergence of Paraphilia throws down a challenge to both reader and the rest of the pack. Have you the imagination to accept?
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Infrequently Answered Questions
A tête-à-tête-à-tête with Christopher Nosnibor,
D M Mitchell, and Díre McCain
CN: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines a paraphilia as a condition “characterized by recurrent, intense sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors that involve unusual objects, activities, or situations and cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.” It may not be the most inspired question, but indulge me: why call it ‘Paraphilia’? Is it a publication for perverts?
Dave: Absolutely!!! Although not necessarily sexual perverts. I’m sure that by now anyone who’s read the first issue can see that it’s not a ‘skin’ mag. The name ‘Parpahilia’ is a bit of a joke. It sums up our culture, the vicarious nature of ‘modern life’, and is a metaphor for what Reich called ‘the emotional plague’.
There’s another side to it, of course; being internet based you need to get ‘hits’ from the search engines. Well, a few years back I was in a band and we were trying to figure out how to get more people to come to our site and I suggested that we change the name of the band to ‘Anal Teens’. Haven’t you noticed how, whatever you put in the search engines, however banal, you get at least half a dozen porn-related results back? Of course there might be a downside to that as well, in that we might attract ‘undesirable’ attention. You could ask, of course, ‘is there such a thing?’ We’ll see…
CN: How did the editorial collaboration and idea come about?
Díre: Well, it all started on October 11, 3131, at 11:11 ante meridiem GMT, when Dave (or Dazhdbog, as he was known then) and I serendipitously collided while cosmic surfing along the Van Allen Belt. What ensued was a synchronic bipolar spell of suspended animation, which lasted exactly 17,421 hours 29 minutes and 5 seconds. The instant we regained consciousness, the harebrained scheme, which would ultimately (or was it previously?) manifest itself as Paraphilia, simultaneously struck our now fused mind(s) like a gamma blast. Before we had a chance to ascertain whether or not it was surreal, a slice of egg bread with Elvis Presley’s face burnt upon its surface appeared out of nowhere, and whispered the following: “If you speak of the tiger, it will come.” The toast was actually speaking Kapingamarangi, but in keeping with the clustering illusion, the steganographic message was crystal clear. To make a long story longer, after mind-melding with a handful of harmonious creatures – including Tom Garretson, Jim Lopez, Steven Severin, Kate MacDonald, and last but certainly not least, Dr. Paraphernalia – Paraphilia began to materialize, and has since taken a life of its own.
CN: There seems to be a new zine springing up on the 'net every twenty-three seconds right now. What makes Paraphilia different from all of the others, and why launch it now?
Dave: There are billions of ‘zines and blogspots on the net, you’re right. But I think the ratio of what is interesting and worthwhile to what is superficial and disappointing is probably the same as it always has been regarding creative ventures.
My friend John Coulthart recently said to me (quote) “There's a whole generation growing up for whom the idea of "magazine" will mean primarily a multi-contributor blog using whatever is the most efficient CMS (Content Management System) for controlling the site structure.” All of that is easily verifiable. This only signifies a shift in the manner of distribution (as Stewart Home might point out) and not necessarily a change in the mode of expression itself, although the two are inextricably linked. There is nothing we experience anymore that is not mediated by the means of production. It’s part and parcel of living in a capitalist society, albeit a moribund one.
So I suppose it would be worth paraphrasing your question and ask instead ‘why, when so many people out there are doing books/films/music, etc, why launch your own line?’ And the answer is pretty simple. It’s what we want to do, primarily because we can’t see much out there that is satisfying our own needs. Our primary impulse is to put out something that we would like to see and read ourselves. That must always be the gauge of what we do. No matter what feedback we get from other people, negative or positive, we have to be happy with it ourselves. And of course we know enough people who are in tune with us to justify putting it out to the public and sharing it. We learned a lot over the years, from working in various fields – myself in writing and publishing, Díre through association with the entertainment industry – and also from the last two years of experimenting on social networking sites and blogspots, and we can apply the distillation of that to our project.
We will be getting a ‘multi-contributor’ blog rolling very soon, plus a section of the site for more interactive and experimental things. But the reason we decided to do a downloadable (and eventually printed) magazine at the core of things is because of the very ephemeral nature of blogging. Here today forgotten tomorrow – and very few people dig back through the archives to read your old stuff. So we need a place to put material that we think has lasting power and deserves to be given a fixed locus, so to speak.
CN: What kind of writing will Paraphilia feature? Obviously, genre really isn't the focus, so what sort of authors will you be promoting? And who can the public expect to see in the first couple of issues?
Dave: There will be no discrimination in terms of genre. We even refuse to recognize it as a valid concept. What will distinguish the writers and artists that we feature will be an ‘inner’ quality. There will be more of a bias towards the Dionysian than the Apollonian. And I like the criteria that Savoy Books used to identify their authors and artists – they wanted people who were mavericks, who didn’t fit into ready-made niches in the market and who were faithful to their vision, also Savoy wanted a ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ vibe to their books. What I like to refer to as ‘The Iggy Factor’. Rock out with your cock out.
Díre: It’s also worth mentioning that previous experience, in the conventional sense, is not necessary, and in some cases, discouraged. In other words, we honestly don’t care if you’re a “well-established artist” bebopping about in the big city, or an unsung recluse holed up in shanty out in the sticks – if your work lights our fire, you’re in. And it’s no secret that the most mentally nutritious comestibles are often found in the obscurest of places. With any luck, Paraphilia will unearth, acquaint, and communalize by serving as a conduit, which was one of the primary motives for birthing the beast.
CN: Beyond publishing the kind of work that the majority of more commercially-driven zines and publishers wouldn't even contemplate in several lifetimes, does Paraphilia have an agenda, be it overt of otherwise? Is there an ultimate objective? If so, what?
Díre: Besides the obvious – i.e. finding a cure for Alien Hand Syndrome, proving the existence of the Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer, and exhuming Jim Nabors’ long lost recording of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, to name a few – the ultimate objective is to achieve universal ataraxia while injecting the cerebrum of humanity with a rhythmic dose of much needed stimulation. The inevitable byproduct, of course, will be the coalescence of subterranean “artists” from all recesses of the world, which will bridge the geographical gap that currently exists. So I guess you could say that we’re aiming for global unification as well, but on a creative level.
CN: It’s been said by many commentators, including myself, for a number of years now, that there’s an internet-driven revolution under way. It’s perhaps fair to say that until now that the music industry has felt the impact of technological evolution rather more than the publishing industry has. What do you consider the future has in store for literature and the publishing industry, and how are you prepared for the revolution?
Díre: I could tell you exactly what the future has in store, and not merely for the publishing industry, but unfortunately – as you already know, Chris – my precognitive powers have been on the fritz for several months. I keep meaning to go in for a Ganzfeld Test and tune-up, but to be perfectly honest, I’m afraid it would disrupt my Habromania. I prefer to remain blissfully unaware for the time being, about the future and present. I will say, however, that cyberspace is our Pinctada Radiata – it’s begging to be exploited, which is exactly what Paraphilia intends to do.
Apropos the revolution, as a former card-carrying member of Analysis Paralysis Anonymous (I’ve long since recovered) I can tell you personally that sometimes the best preparation is no preparation at all, and I’m sure Dave would agree. Just close your eyes and JUMP. Goyaałé!!!!!
CN: Dave, from your experiences with Savoy and Creation, is there anything you've learned that you definitely won't be doing with Paraphilia?
Dave: Well, hopefully I won’t get sent to jail.
CN: You’ve mentioned variously that Paraphilia will be more than just an e-zine. What formats will there be, and what avenues will you be exploring/exploiting in terms of publishing and promotion?
Dave: We’ve already announced that we’ll be publishing books. With the availability of ‘Print On Demand’ companies such as Lulu and Café Press, we should be able to turn out a decent number of titles in a short space of time, which suits someone like me with zero patience. We will make sure that everything meets a decent set of requirements in terms of presentation, but at this stage we just want to get out books containing ‘writing’ for people to read. We have more ambitious projects somewhere down the line that will contain more graphics and more integrated graphics/text. At first, though, we want to represent the writers.
CN: What can we expect from Paraphilia in the future?
Dave: The unexpected. (Bet you knew I was going to say that!)
Díre: Temporal reduplication is the statement that a current experience has occurred previously and is the enduring manifestation of the deja vu phenomenon…
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